Whats next in the certification process for 558?

If it’s my photo in ‘the well known magazine’, I was there at 5:00am and not having yet seen a copy of the mag, the ‘undercarriage up’ shot was taken on the return of 558 as it passed and turned, undercarriage down The joy of long lenses!

Keep smilin!

I see that one well known UK Aviation Journal reporting on the Vulcan f/f has the undercarriage up after climbing away and that XH558 completed a second test flight the following day. :confused:

Mark

I expect the reporter missed getting in by 10.30, then checked You Tube and reported on a flight sim movie of a Vulcan.:rolleyes:

Noted that as well ! – do they have an ‘Area 51’ at Bruntingthorpe where she can take off from without being seen?

Where am I Nancy?

I see that one well known UK Aviation Journal reporting on the Vulcan f/f has the undercarriage up after climbing away and that XH558 completed a second test flight the following day. :confused:

Mark

The question of operational funding for 558 has been one that the forum and others has been asking about for a long time, TVOC has steadfastly not commented on the subject in any great depth except to state that the search for sponsors is ongoing.

My guess would be that it will require multiple sponsors covering various aspects of the aircrafts operation in addition too display fees which will of course add to admission costs, but again without definitive figures all we can do is estimate the impact this will have.

How much is 558 going to cost an airshow organiser? I really dont see the need for a £5 increase, certainly at places like waddington. A £1 increase would give them an extra £250,000. If we go down this route, then would we be prepared to pay an extra £20 per person on top of the current prices? I mean, it’s only £5 for the vulcan, oh and an extra £5 for a shackleton, and £5 for a victor, and lets pay another £5 for well, take your pick… lightning or comet? Suddenly Mr and Mrs Smith will be paying the thick end of £200 for a day out to show little Jonny and his brother a few aircraft. Or have I got the wrong end of the stick?

Looking at it that way, then yes, then it would get expensive, but an airworthy Shack/Lightning/Comet and Victor in the UK isn’t realistically going to happen in my lifetime… An extra £250,000? The airshows I am thinking of aren’t going to attract 250,000 bods, Vulcan or no Vulcan…

Whatever happens, if people want to see a Vulcan or any other airframe fly at an air display, somebody has to pay for it. As these events are not exactly charities, if the aircraft has an expensive appearance cost, why shouldn’t it be passed down? However, I fully agree that this shouldn’t just be an automatic surcharge to the admission due to the Vulcan being there. Either that, or do organisers slim down the display participants to have something like a Vulcan there, yet keep ticket prices lower? Simple fact of life here is that we can’t get something like this for nothing….

Unfortunately, large and complex aircraft have large and complex funding issues, and airshows are just another revenue source. We cannot solely rely on sponsors to keep them in the air, they have to earn their keep, or have very generous benefactors…. The Sea Vixen is springing to mind at the moment, but I’ll stop now in case I am catching ‘Foot-In-Mouth’ disease! 😉

Kind Regards
Scotty

I just don’t want rip off Britain to affect air shows. Happy to pay £1 – £5 extra, because I like aeroplanes and I would also want the extra cash go to the Vulcan and NOT lost in adminstration charges, extra crowd control or a free poster of a Vulcan!

How much is 558 going to cost an airshow organiser? I really dont see the need for a £5 increase, certainly at places like waddington. A £1 increase would give them an extra £250,000. If we go down this route, then would we be prepared to pay an extra £20 per person on top of the current prices? I mean, it’s only £5 for the vulcan, oh and an extra £5 for a shackleton, and £5 for a victor, and lets pay another £5 for well, take your pick… lightning or comet? Suddenly Mr and Mrs Smith will be paying the thick end of £200 for a day out to show little Jonny and his brother a few aircraft. Or have I got the wrong end of the stick?

I don’t mind paying extra either to be honest, especially as waddingtons goes towards the RAFBF, when the sunday was cancled this year we decided that we didn’t need a refund on the tickets we bought in advance, it’s a good cause and they can keep it, we still got to see a few things form our house lol, and we heard the explosions from the other side of Lincoln 😀 .

We will deffinatly be pre ordering for the 2008 show as my mum is obsessed with the Vulcan, so I don’t even get a choice next year lol:D .

I hope we are not going to see inflated ticket prices in 2008 generally at air shows.

You have a flying Vulcan now, so why not increased airshow admission? If the airshow organisers need to pay extra to have it included in the itinerary, then why shouldn’t the price be passed on? I for one, who’s only realistic airshow venue each year is the BoB airshow at Leuchars, I would be more than happy than parting with an extra fiver to see the Vulcan.

Obviously, this does not give carte blanche to airshow organisers to make large jumps in attendance fees, but if the Vulcan is as popular as has been made out on this forum, if it is in attendance, I am sure in general that people will not mind paying an extra quid or two.

My mum, who knows as much about aeroplanes as she does advanced quantum physics has only just stopped raving about XH558’s maiden post restoration flight, so there’s a general member of the public willing to pay an extra couple of quid to see the Vulcan….

If it’s cost X amount of millions of public money in the air, I am sure those who want to see it will not grudge a couple of extra quid to hear that gorgeous sound of 4 Olympus engines spooling up for a rapid takeoff!

Regards,
Scotty 😉

Brattleby 😎

“I wonder how many here can actually recall the original name of the field, and how long it has been in operation both under that name and the now RAF Scampton.”

ooooo pick me pick me, I know 😀 lol

As I understand the situation English Heritage in conjunction with Atkins Heritage undertook an extensive Characterisation study of RAF Scampton, the results of which will eventually lead too the publication of an outline plan for the site that will attempt to promote both preservation of existing facilities, buildings and landscape on the airfield site along with advice provided by CgMs and others, this it is hoped will lead to a ‘Best Practice’ management of the site for future generations.

However as with all these projects is comes down to what available money can be diverted too the project out of the eight being considered in the same report structure as to how successful this will prove in the long term in preserving the site as is or if sacrifices have to be made covering same with an extensive recording of the sites current condition before change is allowed to proceed.

Considering that extensive remodelling of the field had been undertaken followed by removal of sections on one of the runways and demolition of certain facilities already occurring long before E/H was given the oversight task only archaeological records remain to place these in context with the sites history, a study of same has already be made several years ago to record what remains I believe.

My view has always been that this is a nationally important site of great value, however this is often condensed into a single nights operations in 1943 rather than the sites extensive overall historical/educational value.

I wonder how many here can actually recall the original name of the field, and how long it has been in operation both under that name and the now RAF Scampton.

As to moving the BBMF there, it is doubtful that the RAF has the resources to maintain a specific base for such a single purpose flight, even though that idea has great merit sadly leaving the BBMF as a constant thorn in their side relatively speaking, no doubt they would dearly love to do this but my guess is that they will remain at Coningsby fully supported by the RAF and Lincolnshire County Council at least as long as the base remains open.

Tight Squeeze?

We are based at Bruntingthorpe, and as far as we are aware the situation is as cypherus summed it up in his last posting.
I will also add that we understand a total of 8 hours flying will be required before issue of a permit to fly. And that although she may spend time away durring the airshow season’s, 558 will overwinter at Bruntingthorpe.
And lastly, there is the sniff in the air of a planned open day (airshow?) in the spring next year at Bruntingthorpe. And who can guess who will be the star turn?! I think the VOC, owe Dave Walton that much at least. Indeed I think all Vulcan enthusiasts owe Dave and the rest of the Walton familly a masive thank you, for standing by this project from the very beginning, and making it all possible.

I thought Bruntingthorpe could only hold around 25,000 people, so it might be a tight squeeze.
I hope we are not going to see inflated ticket prices in 2008 generally at air shows.
Also remembering the previous owners of 558 have been compensated and that they get montly income from hangerage of the aircraft.
In that sense VOC to do not owe!

Cypherus,
I see… That would explain why the Green Goddesses are still there then. They would certainly need some work before any aircraft could operate from there. Out of the two ‘bad’ hangars, one is defiantly in far worse condition than the other.

As for the runway… We’ve not been given a date for when the work will be carried out, but have been told that it will be some time during 2008… Again, I wouldn’t take this a gospel given the rumors that fly around regarding Scampton.

I wonder what obligation English Heritage have to maintain the hangars sine they took ‘control’ of he site.

Sorry VX927 and folks, The term ‘unsafe’ was in relation too a released report in January 2006 on a review announced in December 2005 on proposals too relocate the RAF communications hub too Scampton and in that report, which ran too several hundred pages, was information about the base general condition at that time and included the base estates and infrastructure surveys,

The section on the runways/taxiways/pans concluded that while the condition was serviceable, the general/overall condition was poor and would require extensive resurfacing work to be carried out if the base was to serve such a role.

It also included detailed structural reports on the hangars, two of which, and here I admit I should have made it clearer, ‘Were in a condition unsuitable for aircraft operations’, and later mentioned several specific areas that were too be considered as unsafe until remedial work had been carried out, my guess is that situation remains and as a result they are now used for general storage.

In the end it was for little as the relocation of units reports concluded that RAF Leeming was more cost effective and RAF Scampton sadly lost out in that respect, but won in that the Red Arrows now operate from there, and yes the runway is to be resurfaced but no firm date has yet been announced.

😮 WOW just looked at scampton on google earth, i didnt realise how big it is! cool place 😀

scampton

Scampton would be a logical choice I would think. Is there anyone here that is currently based at or has anything to do with Scampton?

Cypherus,
With regards to Scampton, I think you’ve painted a far worse picture than it really is. While the runway is in need of an overhaul, there is nothing wrong with its immediate condition. A lot of work has been carried out to ensure that the runway is serviceable, which is how 9 bright red hawks are able to fly out of there every day!!! I also fly an aircraft from Scampton so, while I’m no expert, I can at least confirm that the runway is serviceable. I’m also lead to believe that the runways will be resurfaced next year, although I cant confirm this… There are almost as many rumors about Scampton as there are the Vulcan!!!. With regards to hangars. Were they actually declared unsafe?… If so, then I would have thought that they would be locked and marked as out of bounds, but this is not the case… On the contrary, they are currently being used to store several hundred (at a guess!) Green Goddesses, and I think there was a couple of hunters in one of them too (that’s aside from HAA main hangars at the back of the airfield). I don’t know what has moved into the Tucano Servicing hangar since the Tucano’s left… Maybe it’s empty?

So TVOC… It’s only my opinion, but I think Scampton would make the idea operating base for 558! Then all we need is to get the BBMF over… If only them rumors were true!!!!

Issue of a permit to fly does not tend to stipulate an operating base.

We may otherwise see all Spitfires based at Duxford….

Bruce